


Everybody wants to rule the world

by darkcookie



Category: VIXX
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 13:16:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5968630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkcookie/pseuds/darkcookie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jaehwan found danger was an extremely peaceful feeling. Danger was exciting because he knew Taekwoon would save him no matter what.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everybody wants to rule the world

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fantastiken](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fantastiken/gifts).



Jaehwan found danger was an extremely peaceful feeling. That's what being closed up for most of your life does to you. He felt like he could breathe just by seeing the vast world in front of his eyes, with all its risks. He laughed, jumped and screamed as much as he wanted, always echoed by Hongbin’s deep laughter.  
The other constants were their shadows, as the stable boy called them. Jaehwan couldn't even remember a day without having Taekwoon tailing him, covering for him and reminding him to be careful. The same thing happened with Hongbin: Jaehwan couldn't even imagine his cute cousin without Wonsik; picturing it was like looking at an odd and incomplete image.  
Both Taekwoon and Wonsik were there when they decided to “camp” in the castle's dungeons, although it was so cold and humid that Wonsik got sick. They had also been there when, at the age of 7, Jaehwan thought that whoever got to the top of the biggest tree in the forest first would be the next king. It was ridiculous, he knew that that place belonged to Hongbin since he was born. But they both climbed with all their might nonetheless. So, when after only 4 meters, Jaehwan lost his grip on the branch and fell on top of Taekwoon, he felt that it must have been fate. Having to deal with Hongbin’s cockiness over the next weeks though, was more of a take-a-deep-breath-and-smile sort of situation. He still shaved half of Hongbin’s head in his sleep though, with Taekwoon guarding the door.  
He could easily remember how Taekwoon looked at him when he argued with Hongbin about who'd win in a fight, if Taekwoon or Wonsik, and they decided that the only way to find out was to really make them fight each other. No one liked to remember what happened after that, especially since they stopped only because Jaehwan fainted at the sight of the blood that seemed to be everywhere.  
Danger was exciting because he knew Taekwoon would save him no matter what; he knew he was never really in danger.  
So the first time he stood in the woods completely alone, seven days after Hongbin’s mysterious disappearance, he felt chills running down his spine.

\--

Hongbin dreamt. They were running through the fields as they used to, with Wonsik and Taekwoon tailing them, hiding their silly smiles under stern faces because princes shouldn't leave their castle; they should be quiet and collected. But their princes looked so happy whenever they could walk without restrains, laugh loudly and just twirl and never stop. Wonsik would never say no to Hongbin, and God knows that Taekwoon would do anything in order to keep a smile on Jaehwan's face. No matter the price.  
The only reason why the stable boy hung out with them was that he was the one that showed them a way out of the castle in the first place. He always followed them around, laughing at their jokes and pushing them into doing even crazier things. Wonsik often yelled at him because it's not like the princes needed any kind of motivation. They were stupid enough on their own. But the boy just grinned and ran away, faster than all of them. Taking them one step further from the castle and its oppressive shadow.  
Hongbin dreamt of his life coming back for him.

\--

Hakyeon felt restless. The absence of noise in the castle was more than unsettling. He kept moving his hands in an endless motion just for the sake of doing something, because what is a teacher supposed to do without any kids to teach?  
He missed the freedom you can only find when there are no walls around you. He missed the breeze and the smell of wilderness. The fatigue after running aimlessly for hours. He stopped dreaming about going out a long while ago.  
Hakyeon thought the tall walls would never feel more oppressive than they did, but now, standing in the empty room full of books he used to keep Jaehwan and Hongbin at bay, he felt like a crumbled piece of paper. No air, no light, no exit.  
He kept moving more for his own sanity than anything else. Since when did he get this attached? He knew better than that.  
His heart skipped a beat when he heard some steps coming down. His training kicked in by the time those steps were almost at his door. He was fully ready when the door opened. Hakyeon just wasn't expecting Wonsik, dressed in some plain clothes and looking desperate. His puffy eyes betrayed him instantly, as did his voice when he whispered a wacky “Hakyeon?” into the room.  
Hakyeon appeared and hugged him as tight as he could. He kept whispering soft reassuring sentences as he sat them down on the floor; he pet Wonsik’s hair and held him until he drifted off to sleep.

\--

Hongbin could have sworn that it was the middle of the day. Something in him told him that somewhere, far away from the dark walls that surrounded him, the sun was shining brightly. That in the place he called home, Jaehwan was making some weird animal noises and Hakyeon was lecturing him. That the feisty stable boy was half heartedly doing his work, letting time pass as he waited for them to run down and play with him.  
He needed to believe that somewhere, somehow, his reality was still happening. Even without him there.

\--

Taekwoon could barely move. Jaehwan leaving his side unnoticed was a serious issue and he had been punished thoroughly. He was laying on his stomach on the cold floor taking steady breaths and letting the pain sink in. He deserved to feel it, he had to. What good was a guard dog if it couldn't comply its only job? Nothing. It was worth nothing.  
Taekwoon heard the small steps of Wonsik getting into the room and he turned his head to the other side. He didn't want his compassion; his kindness would only make it worse. But Wonsik knew better, so he sat on the floor next to him and didn't say a word for the rest of the night.

\--

Hongbin couldn't remember what it was like to be warm. He had been trembling for days, feeling the coldness seep into him, taking control of everything. Hunger, thirst, tiredness, none of it mattered anymore. All he felt was cold.

\--

The stable boy was glaring at them. He hated how they spent most of the time just sitting there, not saying a word.  
“You're no fun to be with,” he muttered.  
“Shut up, stable boy,” Wonsik answered quickly. The boy ignored him and decided to start a drawing on the ground with his pinkie.  
“So what? You're not to do anything? Just mope and wait?”  
“We can’t tell you,” Taekwoon muttered. “Believe it or not, we do want them to come back.”  
“Whatever” The boy jumped off the rock they were sitting on. “My name is Sanghyuk by the way,” he added and ran towards the stables.

\--

Hongbin never cried. He always _almost cried_ , but he was especially careful that the tears never truly fell. His father taught him that crying was not a trait a king could afford. But when he saw the door open and some unknown hands shoved the lifeless body of his cousin towards him, he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

\--

“I won’t tolerate any of this!” Hakyeon was screaming in his room. Both Wonsik and Taekwoon looked guilty, not daring to raise their eyes to face who had been their mentor, the closest thing they had to a father.  
“Hakyeon, please,” they begged. “Just say you have nothing to do with it and we’ll believe you.”  
“You can’t actually believe I had anything to do with their disappearance,” Hakyeon muttered.  
“That’s what you were sent here for all those years ago, wasn’t it?” Wonsik yelled. “That’s why you can’t leave!” The slap Hakyeon gave him left a big red mark on Wonsik’s face.  
“They sent me, back then, to dispose of the future king of this kingdom.” Hakyeon’s voice was solemn, and his hands were gently stroking the mark he had left only seconds ago. “I abandoned my parents, my little brother, my country, to fulfill that mission.”  
“What happened?” Taekwoon asked quietly.  
“I started to care for all of you,” Hakyeon whispered resigned, “I couldn’t do it.”

\--

Hongbin had completely forgotten who he was. He had forgotten what he was like. He couldn’t remember if he had ever been happy before getting there. He had no idea why he was there, why they locked him up, what they wanted, who they were. He didn’t even care anymore.

\--

Sanghyuk burned the last message as he had done with all the others before. His smile spread evenly across his face as he stretched his limbs waiting for the fire to go out. Getting Hongbin alone had been a tough nut to crack; getting Jaehwan afterwards had been easier, he had always been the most reckless of them.  
If only any of them had bothered to learn his name, to care for him; if only they had treated him like one of them. If only this stupid and proud king hadn’t trapped his brother in the castle and humiliated his family by doing so.  
If only, he wondered.


End file.
